Nine symptoms of ‘severe’ winter dog illness and when to see a vet

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As the temperature begins to drop, many pet owners may see an increase in their dogs coming down with a range of illnesses and viruses. While many of these may be minor in symptoms, they can sometimes cause more severe illnesses and even warrant a trip to the vet.

An extremely common virus during the colder months is 'kennel cough', which is actually caused by a variety of different bacteria and viruses. Kennel cough typically refers to infectious bronchitis, a respiratory infection, in dogs, which is not too dissimilar to chest infections in humans.

Kennel cough can be highly infectious and can spread quickly through airborne viruses or through bacteria on shared food bowls and toys. Typically, the virus is non-life-threatening, but in some cases it could lead to serious com